Syncopation (1942 film)

Syncopation is a 1942 film from RKO directed by William Dieterle set during the early days of jazz. It is also known as The Band Played On.

In 1906, the Congo Square Building in New Orleans, which was previously used as a slave market, is transformed into an AfricanAmerican unemployment bureau. Close by there is also an AfricanAmerican musical college, where little Reggie Tearbone, seven years old, is learning to play Bach on his cornet. He has trouble following the sheet and starts improvising. It begins to sound more like a jazz piece.Reggies mother Ella works as a housekeeper for architect George Latimer. The Latimers are an old aristocratic family who has started to get financial problems. Because of this, when Georges old friend Steve Porter come to visit, he offers the Latimer family, including Georges daughter Kit and Ella, to return to Chicago with him. ........

Source: Wikipedia